Chapter 26

Patrick stood at the nurse's station and reviewed the results from the first set of labs with Robert and Alan. It had been 24 hours since the first doses of the antidote had been administered and they were all anxious to see if the serum was working.

Fortunately, it was. "This is great work Patrick." Alan slapped the younger man on the back. "If all goes well, the first set of patients should be able to leave in a couple of days."

"Don't look at me – Robin was the one who figured it out." Patrick was thrilled. Robin had been stable so far but her HIV status pushed her to the top of the list for the second group of patients to receive the antidote.

"Never took you as one to shy away from a compliment Drake." Robert had been watching the man closely over the past few days and was impressed by his skills as a doctor. He was even more impressed by the man's devotion to his daughter. No man would ever be good enough for Robin but he was certainly close.

"When it's deserved, no, but this is Robin's success and I wouldn't dream of taking it away from her." Patrick finished making notes on the last chart. "In fact, I can't wait to tell Dr. Soltini the good news. Gentlemen, if you'll…"

Patrick was cut off by an explosion of alarms coming from behind the nurse's desk. "Epiphany? Whose room is that?"

Epiphany began running down the hall. "Robin's!"

The group ran in to Robin's room to find the woman in the throes of a grand mal seizure. Patrick quickly ran to her side while Alan began barking out orders. "Get her rolled over onto her side and get me a CT and blood draw stat!"

Patrick managed to do as he was told and rolled Robin onto her left side, making sure to keep Robin from rolling off the bed and holding her carefully so as not to cause her any injury. It took almost a full minute but Robin finally stopped convulsing and slid into a shakier, postictal state. Patrick didn't let go of her, instead he took advantage of the calm to speak softly to her as he stroked her hair. "That's right babe, just relax into my arms."

Robert watched in amazement as Robin's body stopped shaking completely and her breathing became more regular. He moved over to the side of her bed and was surprised when she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Daddy?"


Alan stood outside Robin's room going over her lab results from the day before when Gwen walked up to him. "I have no idea what happened."

"I heard what happened to Dr. Soltini." Gwen tried to act concerned. "May I take a look at her lab work? I may not be a researcher but…"

Alan shook his head. "No, Patrick has made it clear who he wants working on Robin's case and I will defer to his judgment. If he wants your opinion, he'll ask for it. Until then, please check on your patients and I will let you know if we need anything else."

Gwen stuck her fakest smile on her face before turning to walk away. "Fine – just let Dr. Drake know I am here if he wants me."

"I will doctor." Alan sat down in a chair, basically ignoring the woman. He flipped through the chart again. "What the hell happened?"

"Dr. Quartermaine?" Epiphany had been in Robin's room doing the blood draw when something caught her eye. "Can I show you something?"

Alan looked at the head nurse and knew that she had an idea about what had happened. He jumped up and followed her into the room. "What is it Epiphany?"

"Look at the IV line – I think it's been tampered with." Epiphany had her gloves on and pointed to a section in the line. "There's condensation in the line."

Patrick had been barely listening to what they were saying, he had been concentrated on Robin and seeing how she was doing following her seizure, but hearing that someone may have purposely hurt Robin instantly pulled him into the conversation. "What?"

Alan studied the line without touching it. He looked at Robin and quickly pulled the IV from her hand. "Get me a new bag and get a new line started in her opposite arm."

"Why would someone want to…" Patrick glared at Robert. "You – this is about you."

"No, I would never do anything to hurt Robin." Robert was still in shock at seeing Robin having a seizure. "Besides, no one knows I'm alive."

"Two days ago you show up here and suddenly people are trying to hurt Robin – it doesn't take a brain surgeon to make the connection." Patrick continued to hold Robin protectively in his arms. "Why the hell did you come back?"

"I was just about to ask the same question." Mac pushed past Robert to get to Robin's side. Tears came to his eyes as he saw the state his niece was in. "What happened?"

"We are still trying to piece it together but we think somebody injected Robin's IV line with an unknown substance." Epiphany picked up the IV bag while Alan spoke to the police commissioner. "My best lab tech will analyze her blood samples and the IV fluids so we can see what it was."

Mac shook his head as he watched over the girl he considered his oldest daughter. After all the hell she had been put through over the years he had been thrilled to see her happy and looking forward to the future. Now, because of his brother's return from the dead, she may lose it all. "Patrick, I'm going to work with the hospital to figure out what happened."

"Don't worry Mac, I'm not going anywhere." Patrick settled back down on the bed. "Right Alan?"

"I think you've earned a few days off and I wouldn't trust this little girl's care to anyone else." Alan placed a comforting hand on Patrick's shoulder. "I will put a rush on the blood tests and they should be in here shortly with the portable CT. Just stay with her and we will take care of everything else."

Mac leaned over and kissed Robin's cheek before grabbing Robert and dragging the man out of the room with Alan nipping at their heels. "I want to see all the surveillance footage from this floor for the last 24 hours. I want to know the name of anyone who was anywhere near my girl."

"You've got it Mac." Alan headed down the hall and left a furious Mac alone with his brother.

"Mac…"

"Don't say it Robert." Mac ran his hands through his hair and shook his head once more. "If anything happens to her because of you…"

Mac had barely got the words out when a boot connected with the side of Robert's head. The man hit the floor but bounced back up to confront his attacker. He stopped when he saw who it was. "I guess I had that coming."

Anna's rage was rolling off of her but she refrained from hitting him again. "Oh baby, you've got more than that coming but it will wait until after my daughter is well." She stepped past him and hugged Mac. "Thank you for calling me – how is our girl?"